Installation of the Geosynthetic Clay Liner (GCL) portion of the Final Cap.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The City of Santa Maria has produced a 17-minute-long video that explains the Non-Hazardous Hydrocarbon
Impacted Soils (NHIS) Program. The video begins by showing the careful loading of the sand onto trucks
at the Guadalupe Dunes and the many precautions taken by the inspection crew. The video shows the
arrival of the sand at the Santa Maria Regional Landfill, where the trucks are weighed prior to depositing
their loads. Mark van de Kamp of the City Manager’s Office and Gonzalo Garcia of Chevron Environmental
are the narrators. Mr. Garcia discusses the environmental sensitivity of the Guadalupe Dunes and
the precautions that Chevron takes to preserve and enhance the natural setting. The video
is 36 megabytes and requires Windows
Media Player, which can be downloaded for free. For an overview of commonly asked questions about
the NHIS Program, view our NHIS
Fact Sheet.

What is “Non-Hazardous Hydrocarbon Impacted Soil?”

A century of oil production in California has left large quantities of soils that are impacted
with residual oil. These soils are from oil field sumps, tank farm locations, pipeline leaks, or
petroleum product spills. Rigorous testing determines what soils meet the Santa Maria Regional Landfill
NHIS acceptance criteria. These oil-impacted soils contain more soil than oil. Under
current regulations, these soils are not considered hazardous. The NHIS project at the landfill helps
dispose of impacted soils that are structurally unsuitable to leave in place to support residential
and industrial construction. In many areas, oil companies have determined that the NHIS needs to
be removed. In some areas, such as the Guadalupe Dunes, NHIS may pose a risk to surface waterways
and groundwater. The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (CCRWQCB) tested the NHIS
from the Guadalupe Dunes in a laboratory and approved it as being within the landfill’s acceptance
criteria. Rigid controls are set in place to ensure that any NHIS brought to the landfill is completely
safe.

The CCRWQCB reviews and monitors the NHIS project at the Santa Maria Regional Landfill. The October
22, 2004 report, “Status of California Regional Water Quality Control Board Central Coast
Region Staff Report,” addresses the Board’s approval of the Santa Maria Landfill
NHIS program, noting that “the project will serve to provide a single monitored disposal location
for oil field waste.”

How is this project accomplished? In April 2002, after appropriate Requests for Proposals were
processed, a Public-Private Partnership was developed with Central
Coast Remedial Resources, Inc. for delivery and acceptance of the impacted soils.